Saturday, April 29, 2017

Literary Devices in Scripture — Luke 10:16

The most emotionally and spiritually moving passages of
scripture are often those that employ literary devices. Especially effective is the layering of
multiple devices within the same passage.

I am not saying that the only moving passages are those that
employ literary devices. Some passages
derive their power solely from their substantive content. The story of Joseph who was sold into Egypt,
encompassing his years of struggle, his rise to power, his reconciliation with
his treacherous brothers, his magnanimous gift of forgiveness, and his
reunification with his sorrowing father, would be powerful with or without
literary devices.

I am saying that the linguistic grace of literary devices
often adds to the spiritual and emotional power of many scriptural
passages. The same can be said for
passages in Shakespeare, Milton, and anywhere else that they are employed.

Consider, for example, Luke 10:16, where the effect of
multiple devices is subtle, yet beautiful.
In this passage, Christ is instructing the “other seventy.” He says to them, “He that heareth you heareth
me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth
him that sent me.”

The repetition of “he that” at the beginning of three
successive clauses is an example of anaphora.
The repetition of “me” at the end of these clauses is an example of
epistrophe. The combination of anaphora
and epistrophe constitutes symploce.
Moreover, this verse contains a super-symploce (that’s my term), because
the subtle repetition of “you” in the middle of the first two clauses is an
example of mesodiplosis, and it is embedded between the uses of anaphora and
epistrophe.

The repetition of three clauses of nearly identical length
is an example of isocolon (tricolon, to be even more specific). Or you could label it parison, whose
definition overlaps considerably with that of isocolon. Connecting the clauses with two and’s instead
of one is a minimal but effective use of polysyndeton.

The first clause exhibits a conduplication of the word
“heareth,” the next two clauses the word “despiseth” (did you catch my zeugma
there?). These conduplications also
amount to the use of diacope in one of its definitions.

You could argue that the contrast between “heareth” and
“despiseth” creates an antithesis. You
could also argue that the verse employs alliteration, involving both consonance
and assonance, in the repeating consonant and vowel sounds of “h” and long “e.”

Finally, the first two clauses set up an expectation from
which the third suddenly departs: you—me, you—me, me—him that sent me. I do not yet know which literary device
encompasses this particular tactic, but some rhetorical label probably covers
it. It is certainly an effective
manipulation of reader expectations. The
phrase “him that sent me” is a use of periphrasis that further enhances the
effect of the shifted expectation.

Note also the way this tactic is structured here, especially
as I have abbreviated it (you—me, you—me, me—him that sent me). It smacks of anadiplosis in the second and
third clauses, though anadiplosis (if defined narrowly) is not employed in this
verse.

To push our analyzing even further, we might say that the
progression from “you” (the seventy) to “me” (Christ) to “him that sent me”
(the Father) creates an ascending gradation—or, more specifically, an auxesis.

All of these literary devices are operating in this one
short verse, yet they are used subtly, naturally, gracefully, without
distracting the reader or detracting from the message, without any gaudy cluttering of
words, without obscuring the idea conveyed.
They slip by the untrained eye or ear unnoticed, yet something subtle
resonates in the heart of the person reading or hearing them.

The verse has meaningful substantive content without the
literary devices. It teaches a profound
principle relating to missionary work and the delegation of divine authority—to
reject Christ’s ministers is to reject both Christ and God the Father.

The literary devices add beautiful form to this insightful
substance, thereby compounding the verse’s power. The graceful language does draw some
attention to itself, but in a good way, because its beauty amplifies rather
than diminishes the edification derived from the message.

Christ used literary devices with divine mastery, creating
some of the greatest literature in the world, and the King James translators
rendered that mastery into sublime English.

A wonderful way to improve your language, whether spoken or written, is to immerse yourself in the language of God, especially when you study not only with your head, but with your heart open to the influence of the Spirit.

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About Aaron Jordan

Aaron Jordan is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. After serving an LDS mission in Russia during the nineties, he studied history and law intending to work for the federal government as a diplomat or an analyst, but ultimately the heavens harbored other plans. He lived in Virginia for eleven years until his wife’s career brought the family to BYU. Through his writing, he strives to entertain, to educate, to edify, and to give people more reasons to smile.